In 2011, over 32,000 cases of confirmed or probable Lyme disease were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention making Lyme disease the most common tick-borne infectious disease in the United States. Lyme disease is also the most common infection transmitted by ticks in Europe and is increasingly a public health problem in Canada and temperate regions of Asia. The causative agent is the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato which is transmitted to mammals through the bite of infected ticks.
A complicating factor in diagnosis of Lyme disease is the difficulty of detecting active infection with the causative agent of Lyme disease, particularly in cases where symptoms are present long after potential exposure to infected ticks.
There is a continuing need for compositions and methods for aiding in the detection and diagnosis of Lyme disease in a subject. There is a continuing need for compositions and methods for treatment and/or prevention of Lyme disease.